7:01 Cat says hundreds of dancers showed up for the auditions. Not over a thousand? I’ve heard rumors that auditions for SYTYCD are getting smaller over the years but I have no real evidence. Still, this sounds a little like me saying “I have literally tens of dollars in my wallet right now.”

7:02 Jesse Tyler Ferguson is back! YAY!

7:03 Mary has her list of no-nos for the auditions: 1) No lip-syncing 2) No feeling yourself up and 3) No booty shaking unless you’re really good. However, Jesse disagrees because he wants to see A LOT of booty shaking and feeling yourself up.

7:04 Alexa Anderson made it all the way to the ‘green mile’ last year and was one of the final cuts before the top 20. Can she make it to the the live performance shows this year at the age of 19? She gives a spirited performance with a variety of moves and she clearly looks like a top 18/20 competitor. Nigel wastes no time and sends her straight through to Vegas.

7:05 Next up is Johnny Waacks (aka Jontell Gibson) who will perform in the style of, get this, waacking. He follows in the footsteps of other waacking greats such as, ummm, last year’s Princess Lockeroo. Will the judges love his waacking? Johnny has been waacking for about a year now and Jesse cannot stop making waacking jokes. Really, they do write themselves. He’s slightly off-balance on occasion but I’m suspecting that the judges will love it. Johnny says he can do hip-hop and contemporary, too. Well, he’s not quite good enough as Nigel and the gang send him to choreo.

7:15 At 10:30 am, there are still dancers waiting to be seen? I would hope so! It’s only been two and a half hours! Eliana Girard is up next and in her spare time she does aerial pole work which is vastly different from stage pole work. FOX, get your blurcles ready. She has insane flexibility and her tremendous legs propel her through the contemporary/ballet routine. Nigel says she is one of the best girls this year and she nailed all aspects of the audition. She’s through to Vegas and I have to believe she’ll be in the top 18/20, whichever it is.

So You Think You Can Side Note: The FOX website says 18 but Nigel keeps saying 20. My guess is that the number of weeks available to SYTYCD this summer may have decreased by one sometime after auditions.

7:20 You’re going to Vegas montage!

7:27 A lot of dancers audition in pairs, whether they be friends, sisters, or teacher/student, which is as weird as you think.

7:28 It’s time for Nick and James, the Ninja Twins. They live together but they pledge to get their own rooms real soon. Cat doesn’t know quite how to deal with them and she has trouble getting a single word in edgewise. Given a choice between football/baseball and dancing, they chose dancing. They apparently also chose stand-up comedian as a profession because that’s what going on right now. They will dance to Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” which has me giving them a ticket already. They are tremendously entertaining and the crowd gives them a standing ovation and a “Vegas! Vegas!” chant. They are unfortunately over the age of 30 and will not be eligible for the competition. They may be too old for the competition but can we please bring them back as guest judges?

7:41Sam Linares is a tube top dancer who believes everything will work out in the end. Six months ago, her mom kicked her out because she couldn’t handle living with her anymore. She now lives with her best friend’s family. This whole situation is strange without knowing any more information and I hate to speculate. She’s a contemporary dancer with fantastic flexibility but Nigel points out a lack of passion and heart in her routine. Mary asks if something is holding her back and if she has the support of her family. This discussion rubs me the wrong way. Obviously, Mary has some notes in front of her but she tries to pass it off as if she’s a dance psychic or something. Of course, the line of questioning sends Sam into tears. Instead of a ticket to Vegas, they send Sam to choreography.

7:51 Hey, it’s a surfer with a creepy carnival sideshow mustache! He wants people to notice him! Mission accomplished! He wants to bring tapping back, which, I hate to break it to him, but probably isn’t happening anytime soon. Caley Carr breaks out the Gotye for his routine, which will almost assuredly be used in the competition, right? The judges love his personality and it exceeded their expectations. They enjoyed his reserved approach to tap instead of simply trying to blow them away with speed. It’s another dancer sent to choreography.

8:02 Megan Branch, 18, kicks off the second hour with a contemporary routine. She could really use a lesson in how to apply mascara. It’s a peculiar song (“Hunter” by Bjork) and a peculiar dance but the judges are enamored with her and send her to Vegas.

8:05 The women continue to dominate Los Angeles as several more get their Vegas tickets.

8:06 So let’s meet a guy! Cole Haribe combines martial arts with dance for a unique style all his own. I would guess that martial arts and dance actually have a lot in common as both require concentration and balance. It’s a very strong, masculine performance. He’s the exact kind of dancer that I think the judges would love to go far. When he rattles off the 47 styles of dances he knows, it’s pretty clear he’s going straight through to Vegas and then onto the top 20. Niche performers are often sent to choreography but when you say you know every style under the sun including “smooth standard,” it’s a no-brainer.

8:15 Does anyone do a better montage than SYTYCD? I say no.

8:17 David Matz is a 27-year-old circus performer who works with a Cyr wheel. I was not aware that was allowed on SYTYCD. Will we see jugglers next season? I’m also not aware how this skill translates to other dance styles. Sure, it’s mesmerizing and beautiful, but what will the judges do with him? They send him to choreography just to see what happens.

8:22 The next dancer is Steven Jacobson who will dance ballet but not ballet ballet. Wait a minute, is this a trick? Nigel is quite astute when he says this is terrible. Steven says he is in the Cincinnati ballet company but wow, that didn’t demonstrate anything. The judges give him a second chance and give him a new song. He then blows them away with breathtaking jumps and spins. So what did we just learn? Steven can’t choreograph but he sure can dance.

8:31 It’s time for some deja vu as we get a parade of dancers who have tried out before, including one woman who has been to Vegas FIVE times. They all get tickets to Vegas once again.

8:32 Also back this year is Jonathan whose arrogance did not impress Nigel or Mia last time four years ago. He performs a wicked B-Boy routine including splits and contortions that I did not think were humanly possible. The judges bring Angelique up from the audience for some “partner” dancing but it quickly devolves into club dancing. Jesse Tyler even walks up on stage and tucks a dollar in his pants. I was positive that Jesse would side with Mary and send him to Vegas but instead he sides with Nigel and send him to choregraphy.

8:43 Our next dancer is Jasmine Mason. She and her brother Marshe were both involved in a car accident six weeks ago. He was pronounced dead at the scene but recovered from a coma two days later. She gives a beautiful, sultry jazz routine and the judges reward her with a ticket to Vegas.

8:51 Marshe, who had tried out before, is the final soloist of the night. No commentary necessary. It’s outstanding and he’s going to Vegas with his sister.

8:57 David Matz, Jonathan the Italian Stallion, Johnny Waacks, and Surfer Dude bow out after choreography but 20 others make it.

9:00 That’s all for this week’s auditions. Tonight’s top performers are almost all women as Alexa, Eliana, and Jasmine look a cut above the rest. Still, the number one most memorable performance of the night for me belonged to Cole Haribe. I see great things in his future.

Next week, SYTYCD heads to Atlanta. It appears that they’re giving a full two hours to Atlanta which is a little surprising to me. That means auditions will stretch into a 4th week after that with Salt Lake City. That seems a little excessive especially given the reduced schedule this season. However, I have to say, these first two weeks of auditions have been really fantastic. They’ve been funny (in a good way), entertaining, and full of extraordinary dancers. There has been such little focus on the awful dancers that I’m wondering if there are many auditioning anymore. People tend to think they can sing better than they can dance so it’s not far-fetched that a higher quality of dancers is showing up for these auditions. In any regard, it’s a win for all of us as we don’t have to waste time watching uncomfortably bad dancers. Thanks for reading and we’ll see you next week!

5 Responses

I was surprised at their critique of Sam, the girl kicked out of her house for oddly vague reasons (*coughprobablyalesbiancough*). I thought there was plenty of heart in her performance, but maybe I was just swayed by that OMG awesome Jewel song I haven’t heard in umpteen years.

I also thought Jonathan’s B-boy routine wasn’t as “empty” as Nigel thought, but, he’s the expert and I’m not. I thought it was entertaining. We also haven’t seen a whole lot of B-boy or hip-hop during the auditions so far.

I’m still surprised at the people trying to make tap happen and I still don’t really get the difference between Jazz and Contemporary.